The SOURCEBOOK Series came about this way. Rebecca Sitton,
along with thousands of remarkable educators and frustrated
parents, was dissatisfied with students' spelling. Frustrated with a
spell-the-words-on-Friday approach to spelling, they determined to
do more than fault it. As a result, an ardent pursuit to make a
difference and get different results began. Could students learn to
spell where it counts—in their writing? They believed that, indeed,
students could! This gave birth to a surge of excitement that initiated
a better spelling curriculum.

Progress was made. The word spread. Others were eager to learn the details. Rebecca taught them what she'd learned so far, but all the while she was learning, too. Refinements were made. Then, over time, the First Edition of the SOURCEBOOKS emerged. It became the trusted source for teachers who felt the status quo for spelling instruction had failed them. What really worked was being discovered and practiced!

All the while, Rebecca was discovering something else. Even when there was tremendous enthusiasm to embrace better practices supported by both research and common sense, changing the spelling curriculum was not always an easy transition. Tradition has deep roots. The apprehension to change became an obstacle that Rebecca realized was limiting wider access to the rock-solid philosophy of the program. Perhaps the format of the SOURCEBOOKS needed to change—something more welcoming, easier to follow and manage—friendly.

She was inspired to take the next step. With a treasury of ideas and suggestions from a network of teachers across the country, the work began. Now the Series is in its 3rd Edition—the philosophy hasn’t changed a bit, but the format and skill base has evolved to reflect teachers’ needs. Still the teachers are in charge as the practitioners, crafting the spelling curriculum their way. The SOURCEBOOKS simply provide the infrastructure to allow teachers to create a spelling and word skill program that targets specific needs. The approach recognizes that there's not just one way or one timeline to teach spelling—teachers need resources that are readily available to meet the daily spelling and language-related challenges that reflect a differentiated student population with a wide range of needs. The SOURCEBOOK Series offers this advantage.

The Series comprises eight SOURCEBOOKS—all teacher resource books—one for every grade. The unit-by-unit organization focuses on three strong practice elements that target the program's objective—to help students become confident, strategic spellers in their everyday writing:

• general skills and concepts of word study—teachers select skill-building activities from a menu of differentiated ready-to-go lessons to meet their students' needs. Blackline masters support skill teaching, and Skill Tests assess skill mastery. All essential spelling and language-related skills are included and meticulously recycled to ensure their mastery.
  
• specific word study—tests assess all words introduced so far in the program, all the way back to grade one, to focus each student's word study on the specific spelling words that each individual student does not know—then the tests automatically reassess the words on subsequent tests. All words are recycled extensively to ensure "forever spellers," not short-term "Friday spellers."
  
• spelling in writing—expectations are set for spelling in everyday writing that increase as students mature as writers, making the classroom a rehearsal for "real world" spelling in writing.

It's working! Educators report dramatic increases in students' spelling accountability in writing as well as improved spelling achievement test scores. Teachers say, "We love teaching spelling now—and we're making a difference!" You, too, can make a difference. You can make a difference by making things different. Use the refreshingly revised SOURCEBOOK Series—your spelling solution! Rebecca will be there each step of the way to help you make every child a speller!

Results and the Research Base
Conference Calls with Rebecca

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